2020 Ontario Budget Consultation Meeting - January 29, 2020 – Windsor, ON.

Citizens for Healthcare - Presentation Notes Presented by: Kathryn Hengl

• Good afternoon/evening. My name is Kathryn Hengl and I am here today representing Citizens for Healthcare Windsor Essex Region. Thank-you for this opportunity to speak to you.

• Citizens for Heath Care is a community based organization founded in early 2016, representing over 1000 local concerned citizens who are in support of the new Windsor-Essex Hospital’s System Plan for better Healthcare .

• We are here today to address the required funding for Stage 2 work for the new Hospital Plan that was approved by the previous Minister of Health while here in Windsor on December 1, 2017.

• The estimated funding required for completing Stage 2 work over the next three year period is $9

  million dollars. We want a minimum of $3 million dollars be made available immediately in this 2020 Budget to cover the first year’s work for Stage 2 and prevent any further delays.

• We are gravely concerned with the most recent Ontario Infrastructure P3 Market Update report, dated

  September 10, 2019 listing our project with no defined RFQ date and indicating a minimum delay of 5

  years for completion of our Hospital Project from what was originally approved in December 2017.

• The mandate of this budget has been declared to be “improve the quality of life for people across the province, while also attracting business investment, creating jobs and improving critical public services such as healthcare and education.”

• Further, on January 22, 2019 the Minister of Health, Christine Elliot said, in regard to Ontario’s Government for the People Investing in Urgent Hospitals, and I quote, “The health and safety of patients and families is a priority for our government… That’s why we must make the necessary investments in our hospitals now, to ensure our providers have the facilities they need to continue to provide excellent quality care to patients.”

• We assume this statement includes the citizens of Windsor-Essex County and we expect you to commit in this year’s budget a first tranche of $3M for work within Stage 2, so as to honour, support and implement those words of Ms. Elliot to safeguard the healthcare of our local citizens,…. which commitment, by the way, was confirmed by Premier Doug Ford last week while at a meeting in Windsor where he said to Mayor Drew Dilkens “we are going to make this Hospital happen.”

• Such commitment would fulfill your promise of “Investing in Urgent Hospitals” for all people in the Province of Ontario, and not just those north of London, and it would be to implement the mandate for this year’s budget

  • by providing increased and improved quality of life for the people of this area,

  • creating and maintaining jobs;

  • providing opportunities needed to maintain for our local medical school;

  • creating a more competitive business environment encouraging companies to invest locally

  • and build a healthier and safer community for all.

• We again ask that this budget commit to deliver the required and promised hospital to the Windsor Essex County area. Thank-you.